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New Edition of Stats Text

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The sixth edition of "Probability andStatistical Inference," co-written by Dr. Elliot Tanis ofthe Hope College mathematics faculty, has been released thismonth by Prentice-Hall Inc.

First published in 1977, "Probability andStatistical Inference" is an introductory calculus-basedtext geared toward college juniors and seniors. Tanis co-wrote the book with Dr. Robert V. Hogg of the University ofIowa, who was his thesis advisor while he was a graduatestudent at the University of Iowa.

Although the book has proven successful for morethan two decades, Tanis and Hogg continue to find ways tomake it better. Said Tanis of the latest edition, "We triedto make it even more user-friendly."

For example, the authors have added a prologue tointroduce some thoughts concerning the role of statisticsfor students to consider as they work with the text; a"centerpiece" for the transition from the discussion ofprobability in the first half of the book to the treatmentof statistical inference in the latter half; and an epilogueto tie things together.

In addition, a CD-ROM prepared for the new editionfeatures animated versions of some of the book's graphs,showing what happens when parameters are changed. With boththe instructor and student in mind, the CD-ROM providescolored versions of graphs that are rendered in black-and-white in the book. Furthermore, all of the data sets forthe examples and exercises are on the CD-ROM so they can beanalyzed more easily without the drudgery of inputting allof the data.

As in previous editions, the book continues toemphasize practical examples, including some taken from theHope campus itself.

Tanis retired in May as a professor emeritus ofmathematics after 35 years on the Hope faculty. Aspecialist in statistics, he is also the co-author of"Probability and Statistics: Explorations with MAPLE,"written with Dr. Zaven Karian of the Denison Universityfaculty.

He is a past governor of the Michigan Section ofthe Mathematical Association of America. The associationpresented him with a Distinguished Service Award in 1996.

Tanis served as interim dean for the naturalsciences at Hope in 1993. He received the Hope OutstandingProfessor Educator (H.O.P.E.) Award from the graduatingsenior class in 1989.

He holds his master's and doctorate from theUniversity of Iowa. His undergraduate degree is fromCentral College.